Khim Lal Devkota

Devkota is an expert in fiscal federalism, specializing in public finance, fiscal decentralization, intergovernmental fiscal relations, and legislation in Nepal. With a career spanning over two decades, he has been a staunch advocate for the empowerment of subnational governments, inspiring them to effectively fulfill their mandates. In May 2021, Devkota made a significant transition into political leadership, winning a seat in the Parliament of Nepal (National Assembly, the Senate) as an independent candidate, triumphing over the incumbent Home Minister. He worked as an MP until March 2024.

Devkota has been instrumental in various parliamentary initiatives. He played a crucial role in drafting the Legislative Management Bill, 2024, which addresses issues such as ensuring the participation of provincial and local governments in the bill-making process. Additionally, he participated as a task member of the National Assembly Rules Revision Task Team aimed at making the rules more friendly for the public and subnational governments. In his capacity as the president of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Federalism implementations, he played a pivotal role in conducting a comprehensive study on federalism implementation, culminating in the submission of a report to Parliament. Furthermore, he led a team of parliamentarians in submitting a federalism implementation resolution proposal in June 2022.

Before parliament, he served as an advisor to various governmental bodies, development donors, and international non-governmental organizations. He provided invaluable technical assistance to key institutions such as the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance, the National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, and the Local Bodies’ Fiscal Commission. His expertise was instrumental in shaping policies and programs related to fiscal decentralization, intergovernmental fiscal transfers, local government finance and planning, as well as the implementation of performance-based grant systems.

During Nepal’s transition to a federal republic, Devkota held the esteemed position of the first Vice Chairperson of the Policy and Planning Commission of Bagmati Province from 2018 to 2019. Additionally, he contributed substantially as an expert member of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Council and provided invaluable guidance to parliamentary committees on matters about finance, development, state affairs, and planning. His consultancy work with esteemed organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP, UNCDF, DFID, SDC, USAID, GIZ, JICA, the Asia Foundation, International IDEA, and the National Democratic Institute further underscores his commitment to advancing policy and research in the realms of fiscal federalism, subnational governments, and public financial management.

Devkota’s expertise and insights have been sought after by various media outlets, where he has been featured in numerous interviews as an authority on federalism and current development issues in Nepal. He is also a prolific academic writer, with several published papers, articles, and reports, particularly focusing on federalism, public finance, intergovernmental transfers, public expenditure management, and local governance. Notably, his academic contributions include publications for the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

For inquiries or collaborations, he can be reached at [email protected].